Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 9:56 PM

Category: First Person

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 2:30 PM

Category: Massively Multiplayer

I started out by participating in the beta weekends and other preview events. After release I started playing PvP pretty regularly, got to know a few of the developers, and was invited into the private alpha test. After spending a while on the test team and having the opportunity to contribute to the design and testing processes, I was offered a chance at a game design position.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 2:06 PM

Category: Console Games

The poster, "goldeneyemaster", claims his Xbox 360 was crashing "like once every 20 minutes," so he suspended it in the air with a bit of string - which did the trick.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 1:45 PM

Category: First Person

Saber Interactive, creators of Will Rock, are at it again with a new title called TimeShift. Will Rock was a decent enough game but it left plenty of room for improvement and that's exactly what they're promising to do with their new game. TimeShift is a traditional type of First Person Shooter (FPS) - no squad based activities, no team-based play, just the main character and an assortment of weapons. The thing that should set this apart from other games in the genre is the ability to manipulate time.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 3:20 PM

Category: General

PC games are available on DVD, but typically at a higher price than their CD-ROM brethren. You'll find that your desire to own F.E.A.R., World of WarCraft, Quake IV, and others on DVD will cost you at least $5 more than it really should.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 12:45 PM

Category: Strategy

In this 3D real-time strategy game players command their troops from dizzying heights, enthroned upon the heads of mighty dinosaurs and other tremendous beasts. Players command their troops both with and against dinosaurs in a prehistoric setting as incredibly dangerous as it is beautiful.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 9:42 PM

Category: Role Playing

While women with snakes for hair and lizards with magically restorative necks aren't entirely historically accurate, the architecture in these 'hub' parts of the game certainly is. You'll be standing next to all manner of Ionic, Doric and Corinthian pillars - nattering with the ancients and finding out which part of mythology you're next destined to smite.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 2:58 PM

Category: Xbox

"That's when all hell broke loose," said Ben DiSabatino IV, a 23-year-old Bear, Delaware, resident, who had been waiting in line since 4 p.m.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 2:07 PM

Category: General

"We are glad that Bram Cohen and his company are working with us to limit access to infringing files on the BitTorrent.com Web site," MPAA Chief Executive Officer Dan Glickman said in a statement. "They are leading the way for other companies by their example."

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 12:54 PM

Category: General

• Gun on Gaming Illustrated (FPS / PC).
• Half-Life 2 on EuroGamer (FPS / XBox).
• Perfect Dark Zero on Gamespot (FPS / XBox 360).
• Perfect Dark Zero on Worthplaying (FPS / XBox 360).
• Call Of Duty 2 on GameZone (FPS / XBox 360).
• Dungeon Siege 2 on GameShark (RPG / PC).
• Dragonshard on GameShark (RTS / PC).

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 11:11 PM

Category: Massively Multiplayer

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 12:00 AM

Category: Strategy

It's immediatly apparent that Age of Empires III is a massive graphical advancement over it's older siblings, and well it might be given the amount of time between the games to be honest. It is however a better looking game than many other modern RTS offerings, to be perfectly honest it looks great. Lot's of bleeding edge shader effects are employed to good effect, water glistens in the sun, shadows look great though occasionally shaky. Animation is also impressive, it's great fun to watch artillery bowl over a group of troops, especially if they are your enemies, they just fly about in such a great looking and amusing way.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 2:09 PM

Category: Role Playing

Set twenty-five years in the future, Hellgate: London introduces a world devastated by a demon invasion and a desolate city scorched by hellfire where mankind has gone underground to survive. Among them are the Templar, an archaic and secret society that foresaw this demonic apocalypse centuries ago. Followers of arcane rites, the Templar combine futuristic technology with ancient artifacts to forge powerful weapons and armor. The mystic sanctuary of the Underground system provides players safe conduct throughout the sprawling metropolis of London as they seek to preserve the bloodline of man and gain a foothold against the minions of darkness.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 9:11 AM

Category: Role Playing

Finally, Iron Lore was happy to show off the editor that will ship with Titan Quest. The company has high hopes that the game's community of fans will create their own unique worlds and levels. The editor will be easy to use, and from what we saw, it works very much like any kind of painting program on the PC. Just select a "brush" and "paint" what you want on the screen. You can easily raise and lower terrain, paint on different textures, plop down objects and buildings (the editor will automatically "adjust" the terrain to make sure items such as bridges connect properly to the ground), and more.

Among the skills used by both characters today were a shield charge attack which knocks creatures for a loop, freeze spell that does as you would expect, flash powder that dazes enemies and turns them on each other, and one called ancestral warriors that has a long refresh time but calls powerful ghostly allies to fight at the character's side.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 11:28 PM

Category: Role Playing

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 6:21 PM

Category: First Person

This was my first time working with actors like this, and I think I got extremely lucky to work with such an incredible group. These guys and gals just nailed it.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 8:13 AM

Category: Console Games

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 2:56 PM

Category: General

In the not too distant future, the past will change. The world as we know it will be erased from history, as if it never was. Even the very memory of us will be wiped out like tears in the rain. Our descendants will never be born - our existence will become but a mere dream in another dimension. This, it would seem, is inevitable. For once the past has been altered the future as we know it will never come to be. There is only one hope for us, for our children, for our future. It is you – our very existence rests in your hands. May time be on your side.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 12:00 AM

Category: General

• Half-Life 2 on IGN (FPS / XBox).
  
• Indigo Prophecy on Techgage (Adventure / PC).
  
• Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood on Bovine Conspiracy (FPS / PC).
  
• Dragonshard on Worthplaying (RTS / RPG / PC).

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 10:18 AM

Category: Strategy

ParaWorld is short for parallel world. It's not about the paramilitary or paraplegics, but instead about a group of scientists that find themselves embroiled in a fight for survival after traveling to a parallel world. The story actually begins in the early 20th century as a group of scientists, led by one Jarvis Babbet, begin to study the existence of parallel worlds. After decades of research, the hard work pays off as they discover a new world. Among the interesting things on this world are the three separate tribes and millions of dinosaurs still roaming the world. But the most important facet to the scientists is that they don't age while in ParaWorld.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 3:40 PM

Category: Hardware

Every single key on this bad boy is completely devoid of any labeling. In fact the only text on the top side of the key board is the Das Keyboard name and a label for the Num Lock, Caps Lock and Scroll lock LED indicators which are all standard green.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 8:10 AM

Category: First Person

The horse was a very important part of the west and we’ve recognized that in Gun. Every horse in the game, whether it is your trusty steed or the mount of a lawless bandit, is a living and thinking creature in the game. They get spooked by gunfire, fatigue if you ride them to hard and can be killed by bullets same as you. You can steal and ride any horse in the game and upgrade them as you complete side missions and buy items from the store.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 1:46 PM

Category: Action

The [Two Thrones] enemies are now able to see the prince coming from afar, hear him as he comes close by or when he disturbs a volley of pigeons, for example, in which case, they will turn to an awareness behavior and investigate the issue further. If a real threat turns out to be found, they can trigger the alarm and call for reinforcements using the Sand Gate system.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 3:11 PM

Category: General

• F.E.A.R. on Trusted Reviews (FPS / PC).
• Fable: The Lost Chapters on Just Adventure (RPG / PC).
• Call of Duty 2: Big Red One on GameSpot (FPS / XBox).
• SOCOM III: U.S. Navy SEALs on Worthplaying (Action / PS2).

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 9:38 AM

Category: Role Playing

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 10:52 AM

Category: General

• Indigo Prophecy on Worthplaying. (Adventure / PC).
• Indigo Prophecy on Gameplay Monthly (Adventure / XBox).
• F.E.A.R. on Boomtown (FPS / PC).
• Serious Sam II on Fragtopia (FPS / PC).
• Cold War on gameSlave (Action / PC).
• Soul Calibur 3 on Gameplay Monthly (Action / PS2).
• Call Of Duty 2 on Just Press Play (FPS / PC).
• Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth on Jolt Online Gaming (Action Adventure / XBox).
• Metroid Fusion on MyGamer (Action Adventure / GBA).

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 10:27 AM

Category: Role Playing

In short, the game is coming out in early 2006 because it isn't done yet. We still have things that need to be done before the game is released. So we continue to optimize, test, balance, etc. We've already gone way beyond what we did in any game previously in playtesting and balancing this game. Way beyond. But there is work that needs to be done and so development continues to go on pretty much around the clock. We will not put out a more specific date until we are certain we will be ready then. Like system specs, we aren't fans of putting out info that changes later on and only confuses or annoys our fans.

We have a number of site updates planned between now and the game's release that we hope to do on a regular basis each week. We'll do the best we can to make it every week, but understand that sometimes PR/marketing stuff gets in the way of game development and so it has to get set aside sometimes for the good of the game (and the people making it). We'll be updating the Codex in stages, adding new concept art, screens, etc. in the coming weeks and months. We're open to doing another fan interview in the coming weeks as well to let you ask what it is you think we aren't telling you. In short, we aren't holding out on you, we just don't want to be done telling you about the game before it comes out.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 5:12 PM

Category: Action

In the strange and distant future, a beautiful agent named “Aeon Flux” employs all the lethal abilities at her disposal to disrupt the soul-crushing tyranny that pervades the walled, protected city-state, Bregna, ruled by a congress of scientists. Her nemesis is Trevor Goodchild – a sometimes-lover, yet fulltime Chairman of the Breen Council. Aeon faithfully serves the underground ‘Monican’ rebellion in their efforts to overthrow the Breen, however deadly rivals oppose her at every turn, and powerful temptations test her loyalties.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 3:07 PM

Category: First Person

What's clearly meant to happen is that you're overwhelmed by the incredible numbers of enemies on screen at once. What actually happens is you stand still with your finger on the mouse button, shooting at a hundred of the same enemy until either of you are dead, and then after 57 reloads, maybe trudge over to the next site of the same. Your survival is entirely at the discretion of the direction the Bugs run in, based on their complete lack of discernable AI. If you're lucky, they'll all charge a local rock, wedging their limbs miraculously through it, while you casually walk around them. If you're unlucky, they'll attack you from 360 degrees (the game forces you to stand out in the open frequently), those behind you killing you before you can take out the ones killing you from the front.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 2:45 PM

Category: Action

New to Battlefront II are revamped singleplayer modes. In addition to a reinvigorated Galactic Conquest (with more earned goodies and a deeper level of freedom), players can now partake in Rise of the Empire. This mode chronicles the exploits of the galaxy's famed 501st cloned infantry division with a variety of cool objectives and planned battles. It begins with a simple tutorial on Geonosis, but then spirals out of control as the clones march across the galaxy on one deadly operation after another at the whim of a mad supreme chancellor, Palpatine.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 2:34 PM

Category: Role Playing

The demo we saw featured the female version of the only class revealed thus far, the Templar, and demonstrated the way the melee and ranged weapons would interact in the game. Ranged weapons could be used in first person or third person modes, while melee weapons required third person mode. Dual-wielding any type of weapon was possible for the Templar, as was wielding one weapon of each type. In fact, during the demo, we were shown some of the possibilities of each combination.

Posted by Darren 'Doom Dude' Finch at 2:18 PM

Category: Strategy

There is a lot of stuff to learn when you hop into Age of Empires III. There's also a lot that is familiar and maybe even a little unwelcome. The unit AI still acts funny sometimes, the micromanagement is at least as plentiful as it's always been and economics are a huge part of the game. These are things that also help differentiate the Ensemble real-time strategy game from all the rest, so if you don't dig the micromanagement, you need not even try this one.